The sun shines through the windows of the Shady Corner as its patrons go about their day-to-day business. Suddenly, a flash of light accompanied by a thunderous tremor fills the room. After a few moments, those present shake off their disorientation to note that an infant has appeared on a table in the center of the tavern. The boy has a shock of white hair and is swaddled in a sky blue blanket. He glances around and furrows his brow with a concern beyond his years but makes no noise.
Janos blinked several times. He scratched his now horned head and lifted the mask to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Of course Glimmer would get to the child first, that was just how she was. He instead took his time and walked over to the child and her.
"I'm pretty sure that isn't the normal process for baby's. "
The infant regards Glimmer with mild annoyance and resignation. He opens his mouth to speak, but only manages to produce gibberish, which only seems to irritate him further. He patently refuses the cookie and continues furrowing his brow, as if trying to work out a puzzle.
Glimmer snuggles the child closer to her body as she snarls at Janos. "And you're so smart, Mr. Accident Face? If he wants to look at the cookie, he can look at the cookie. Back away from the babe, or I'll be forced to call in my Queen. You are powerless here." Glimmer drains her flask on the Unseelie's feet, then promptly fills it with tea again, as only a true mothering sort could do with one free hand. "I shall call you Henry Persophone Wigglebottoms. I'll be your guide through the ways of this town. You just drink this like a good boy, and we'll be just fine. I'll call in your Great Uncle Wreynn, yes I will!" Glimmer begins to nudge the flask of warm tea towards the baby's mouth, still squishing the babe close to her.
Janos raised an eyebrow and smiled sweetly at Glimmer. "I am many things, my Lady, but powerless I am not." He replied happily with special dripping sarcasm on the Lady part. "Anyway, still sure Baby's don't just explode out of thin air. I wonder how he..if it is a he, got here." Janos, was more interested in the magic used to teleport the child than the child itself.
"Oh he's such a good baby Accident face! Just look! He's offended at my dwarven flask! Let's give him a shiny!" Glimmer digs in her pouch again, pulling free a beautiful dreamcatcher that eminates a soft magical glow. She drapes it around her neck and looks about. "Solas! Where are you? I need you to help me!" Glimmer begins rocking the baby softly in her arms, levelling a galre at Janos. "Be very quiet. He must sleep now, as he drinks." Glimmer pulls another item from her pouch, and reswaddles the babe in a cloak that eminates yet another glow, surrounding the child in magic and shiney bits.
Solas bursts through the tavern doors and looks around, frantically. His chest heaves slightly as he bends to place his hands on his knees. He pauses for a moment to catch his breath. He wears only one boot, and his cloak sits awkwardly on only one shoulder.
"What's the..." He sucks in a generous amount of air. "Problem?" He pauses. "Is that a baby? Where did you get a baby Mrs. Glimmer?" An expression of panic and worry flashes across his face.
"SHHHHHHHHH! He needs to go to sleep, Mr. Solas!" Glimmer heavily winks her eye at Solas twice, and then says "I found him, fair and square before anyone asks! He just poofed right up into the tavern out of the air. I need to know who he is, but for now, he's Henry Persephone Wigglebottoms." Glimmer nuzzles the babe, and continues singing her song in her old Gaelic tounge:
"Gu robh neart na cruinne leat. 'S neart na grèine. 'S neart an tairbh dhuibh. 'S àirde leumas." (May you have the strength of the universe. And the strength of the sun. And the strength of the black bull. Which jumps the highest.)
Haven pushes her way through the Shady Corners' doors looking annoyed. "Solas, wait, curse you." She is also out of breath, apprently chasing him here. "Your ring is supposed to be fin-" She drops a small jewelry hammer and a fistfull of metal nuggets and stones onto the floor, her mouth open wide. Haven pushes past Solas to see what Glimmer is holding.
"MISS HAVEN!" Glimmer tries to yell in a whisper. "It's an Empyrean babe. Do come see! Oh I'm so glad you are here. Can you hold him for a moment? Caress him with your healing touches and hold him near you? Make sure he's alright? He piffed in here out of nowhere! I want him to sleep now, so I can try to sort this out and see where he came from; who he is!" Glimmer moves closer to Haven, carefully holding the baby so as to allow Haven to take hold of him easily.
Glimmer hiccups and lets a shriek fly as the light appears, then turns to Haven. "Well then! Let me see here. Thalenir is out there naked somewhere, then you are holding a Empyrean babe, who willingly apeared in your arms. Something is amiss here, or Thalenir is much more powerful than we thought and ran off to give birth alone!" Glimmer inspects the baby and giggles, then hugs Haven and the baby, waiting to see what happens further.
At the mention of Thalenir's name, the baby begins to glow faintly. His body grows to roughly twice its previous size as he rapidly ages. The swaddling blanket falls away and he struggles until Haven puts him down.
He looks down at his naked body, shakes his head in an exaggerated motion, and extends his hands. A set of Thalenir's robes appears on him out of thin air. The robes are considerably too big for him, however, and he stumbles immediately, falling into the pile of clothes.
"So dis is wut he mint by humiwildy," he says in broken toddler speech.
Glimmer places a hand on Haven's should, then stoops down to the child. She picks him up, dusts him off, careful to shield his nakedness from the group. She then wraps the robes around him and tucks them up between his legs as a diaper would be. "Hello, little one. We shall call you Thally, instead. Do you know of our Thalenir? These were his robes." Glimmer pats the robes now around the toddler, and continues on. "Please excuse Miss Haven's surprise. Thalenir has been gone a very, very long time, and she misses him so. We all have. Would you like a cookie? Can you say your name?" Glimmer holds the cookie out to the toddler, and nudges Haven trying to get her to join her on the toddler's level.
Solas looks down at the now toddler empyrean who just conjured Talenir's old robes. He stares on wide-eyed and smiles slightly. "You are much older than you appear, aren't you, star-child?" He smiles broadly again. "You're him, aren't you? The Old Hero of Jastrey, Chosen of Drakerim, Thalenir Lestral." He chuckles slightly to himself "You certainly seem grumpy like him."
The toddler stands shakily, the oversized robes giving him the appearance of a child who's gotten into his parents' wardrobe. He dusts himself off with ham-handed strokes. "Yes yes," he says. "Sowwy for the confooshun. I'm not mysewf today. I should be big in a few mow minutes." He frowns. "At least, I tink so."
Zwey enters the tavern, wearing his plate, a fine set of pauldrons now added to it. He had come seeking the wizard Cail again, but the teleporting babe, well, now toddler, had put that thought out of his mind. Even more interesting than that, was this Thalenir everyone was speaking of? Zwey sits to observe, chuckling as the events unfold.
Solas stands, smiling happily. "What a way to start the morning." He says as he walks over to the bar and orders himself two glasses of deep ruby port. He waits and grabs one in each hand. He walks back over to the toddler. He makes a motion toward one glass. "For when you're older, mate." He says with a smirk.
Glimmer's eyes grow wide at the mention of a He. "Who is He, Thalenir? What happened to you? I'm trying to say your name a bunch so maybe you'll have a growth spurt, but you've got to give us something to work with! You can't just be a baby and then rip yourself from my arms and grow up! It's not fair! Taklinn would have been a good Daddy! You missed the wedding." Glimmer settles herself and eats a candy, drooling a bit as she calms down.
Cail appears in a flash of white light beside Zwey and before he could greet him, he stared slightly open-mouthed at the Empyrean Toddler standing in clothes too big for him.
"So who's is he," Cail asks aloud to the group with a mixture of concern and confusion on his face.
Thalenir appears about to speak, hiccups abruptly, and shoots up another foot in size. He shakes his head, now appearing as a youth of 7 or 8 years. The robes are still a poor fit, but not nearly as comical as before. He holds up a hand for inspection, turning it over and flexing it. "That's a little better."
He turns back to Glimmer. "'He' is Drakerim. I've spent the past few years studying with him. When I decided to come back, he told me my body had been destroyed by Scorch's curse and I'd need to get a new one. He also said it would be a 'humbling experience.' The Keeper of the Flame has a talent for understatement." Thalenir downs the remainder of his tea. "I think I'll have that port now, Solas."
Solas's smile drops, as he slides the Port over to the Empyrean Child, Nodding to Haven to help herself.
"You studied with him? Him, the leader of the Forsynteril, him?" He pauses and leans forward as he speaks. "Him, whos been disappeared without a trace for over 200 years, him? You've not only seen him, but also studied with him, personally?" He leans back again, Dazed. "Baam's Shadow..." He mutters to himself.
"No he's clearly Empyrean. Look at his hair," he says to Zwey. But as soon as he hears the name 'Drakerim' Cail's eyes go wide and he bows to the child. "He's been touched by the Keeper of the Flame! Please tell me, how did you get such an honor, said Cail speaking to the child with a reverence due an Elder Seer as he held his bow.
Thalenir nods, somber. "I thought I knew a thing or two about magic. I was wrong. Even after years of study, I've barely scratched the surface. We are mere children compared to his ilk." He looks down at himself and smirks as he realizes what he's said. "And the lessons continue, eh, old man?" he says to himself.
Thalenir looks over to Cail. "A wise man once told me, show respect, not submission. And if you must know, I died, needlessly and foolishly. Drakerim chose to save me, but his reasons were his own. I would sooner claim to be able to touch the sun as to understand his mind."
He puts his cup down on the table, swinging his legs. "At any rate, it's good to see you all." His eyes wander over to Haven and he smiles. "At least it hasn't been years for all of you like it has for me. What did I miss?"
Solas nods solumnly.
"You studdied with an Immortal that had been rumored to have disappeared over 200 years ago." He repeats. "This changes everything." He says. "First Brodix was awakened, now this?" He says. "Immortals that seemed to have disappeared after the Shattering are showing up." He speaks mostly to himself. "Baam's Shadow... this changes everything..."
Akon, having been swigging her newly acquired flaggon of ale regarded the whole scene calmly. She then tipped her mug towards the 'child'.
"Humbling indeed. It is good to have you back, Thalenir. Always good to have someone with some sense reside in this town. Besides. I had been meaning to appologize about my outburst the night mests ago...in my rage I had quite forgotten the aid you have provided me in the past. So appologies to you, Thalenir. I hadn't managed the chance to offer such before you exploded."
As the conversation continues, Thalenir appears to be aging more steadily rather than in sudden spurts. He now appears as a young teenager. "I was always free to go," he says to Glimmer, his voice squeaking with adolescence. He clears his throat and continues. "He gave me the option to stay and learn, and so I did for a time. But I could have returned at any time."
"Brodix, you say?" Thalenir says, turning to Solas. "Drakerim never faded. He's simply been… busy, shall we say. Brodix, however… if he's returned, there's something more at work. Tell me, have any other immortals suddenly reappeared?"
Solas's Brow furrows. "You say he's been busy like it's something everyone knows but me. Yet everything I've read on the matter said he faded same as all the others. What do you know that no other Scholar seems to Thalenir." His voice drips with poison. He stops himself and takes a deep breath. "Sorry. Sorry. It's good to have you back. As far as I know Brodix is the only one to have made his return."
"Apology accepted," Thalenir says to Akon in a neutral tone. "I'd say it warrants further investigation."
Thalenir turns back to Solas. "What I know I am bound by oath not to reveal, as I was the last time we spoke on the matter. All I can tell you is that Drakerim is alive and well, and has been indisposed these past two centuries."
Taklinn, stands from his table and leaves his morning meal to sit and cool, and quickly begins rummaging in his pack, Several pieces of adamant ore, a set of Bracers, and pieces of Mithril armor that are as yet incomplete fall out as he digs down to the bottom. He pulls out a Decanter and Studies the Empyrean for a bit, Finally he whispers to the decanter softly, "Earthbreaker 5500" and tips the Decanter slightly, pouring from it what appears to be a dark, oil-like substance into his adamant mug, and then another into a mithril chalice he has dug out of his pack.
He then picks up both containers and approaches the mage, saying "Tis good ta see ye, but yer still not quite yerself mage. Ye seem to not be able to grow yer face fur that ye non dwarves call a beard. Take a drink O' this an' put some hair on yer chest, an' maybe even yer chin!"
"Speaking of Immortals coming back, What was that I heard about an Anti-Dhuroscht weaopn or machine being destroyed? If all the great-ones are returning and this machine just happened to be reactivated not even a week ago, can we assume that not just the Good ones are revealing themselves? I think it would be wise to be prepared for the Evil ones."
A few stray hairs begin to sprout from Thalenir's chin as he continues to age. He regards Cail with puzzlement. "Yes, unless I'm much mistaken, I know you. I've always made it a point to keep up with other mages in town, particularly fellow wizards. I suppose it's possible I left a weak impression before, in which case let me re-introduce myself." He extends a hand. "I am Thalenir Lestral, apprentice wizard."
After several more minutes, Thalenir's aging ceases. He stands up, adjusts his robes, and conjures the remainder of his equipment. To all who know him, he appears as he always did, with the exception of fewer scars and more world-weary wisdom around his eyes. He takes his staff in hand, breathes deep, and says, "It is good to be home. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go console Haven." He raps his staff once upon the ground and vanishes in a final flash of light.
Delvin turned on his stool to regard the situation at hand, immediately upon spying the white shock of hair sported by the babe his jaw had hit the floor. Remaining silent all the while he simply took in the scene before him as the babe teleported and then sprouted into the relative shape of his friend Thalenir. The Gnome pushed himself off his barstool, wandered up to Thalenir and offered a quick bow in greeting, "Glad to have you back, Sir, Jastrey hasn't been the same without you. All the monsters seem to move around without taking minute long pauses at random intervals....". He gave a little chuckle at that, clearly amused with himself, "but in all seriousness, I'm very glad to see you returned to us". With that he'd back away a bit letting Thelenir have his space, knowing full well the entirety of town would be packed into the shady corner in no time once word had spread.
Glimmer jumps at the sounds, then sees a baby appear. She quickly flits to the infant, picks him up, and begins singing him a song of her older days, while digging a cookie out for him to nibble.